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Are All Religions the Same?

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It is a common and idealistically beautiful notion, that all the religions of the worldessentiallypreach the same teachings for the betterment of the world. In fact, this is part of the spirit that makes harmonious inter-religious dialogue possible – when we choose to focus on the similarities of compassion and wisdom. If we are to harp on the differences to one another instead, there would be religious conflict.

But are all religions exactly the same upon closer look? Realistically, of course not - this is why there are different religions in the first place, even though there might be certain teachings which overlap in between. If we truly wish to deeply understand various religions, we need to not only look at the similarities, which many prefer to stop at, but to look at the differences too. It should not be surprising that the deeper one looks, the more obvious it might be that there are differences aplenty. Many Buddhists too have previously speculated on the sameness of all religions, till they studied more about Buddhism, realising how it even explains how various religious stems of thought evolved differently.

Is it okay for one to be a “hybrid Buddhist”? For instance, to be a “Whatever-Buddhist” (fill in your non-Buddhistfaith in place of “Whatever”)? While many Buddhists are not exactly sure of others’ reactions to that, what would the Buddha think of such an idea? Well, though the Buddha clearly wished to benefit everyone with his teachings, he never demanded anyone to follow his teachings fully without question. In fact, he taught that “When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities (as taught) are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted and carried out, lead to welfare and to happiness’ - then you should enter and remain in them.” (From the Kalama Sutta: please study it for more details as to how to wisely embrace a teaching.) Though the quote might seem like common sense, it also means the Buddha allows us to be as Buddhist or non-Buddhist as we wish, as we personally find sensible or are comfortable with - though there is no guarantee that every individualunderstands what is truly ”sensible”.

Even if one might be able to happily reconcile one’s faith with the Buddhistfaith, there are still indeed “irreconcilable differences” which make Buddhism, as well as other religionsdistinct from one another. While it might be perceived that different religions are different paths to the same goal, the goals of each religion are usually essentially different, and only somewhat similar. May we remember that to be truly open-minded does not merely entail looking beyond differences, only thinking that different religions have similarities in ideology - it also includes realising they have concrete differences too. This is important as having or promoting over-simplified or warped and thus inaccurate personal conjectures of the essences of various religions is not only unfair to oneself spiritually, it is also unfair to those of their respective religions.

While we might think outsiders of other religions can see the overall picture better than the insiders, one should also consider becoming more of an insider to see the picture from within, by having more through study and practice of a religion to discover its essence. Otherwise, one will have an incomplete vision of the whole picture. Just as those of a religion should respect and never disparage those of other religions, to “force” the assumed oneness of all religions upon anyone is to disparage all religions themselves, as this corrupts their original teachings, which have painstakingly evolved to be self-contained paths to their respective spiritual goals. Of course, whether the paths work or not, and whether the goals are true or not is another issue altogether, subject to debate. However, since religionsexist to benefit humankind, may all religions co-exist harmoniously in the light of true understanding!

... Since it is the underpinning of goodness, and by merely being there is the cause of everything, to praise this divinely beneficent Providence you must turn to all of creation. It is there at the center of everything and everything has it for a destiny. It is therefore ‘before all things and in it all things hold together.’ Because it is there the world has come to be and exists. All things long for it. The intelligent and rational long for it by the way of knowledge ...

I believe the result of such a project would produce a mosaic of overlapping and divergent understandings. From the perspective of a particular facet X, the two traditions have a shared view. From the perspective of facet Y, the two traditions diverge. From the persective of how they arrive at the same view X, there will also appear similarities and contrasts. When engaging in this project it is also important to keep in mind that monotheism is not a uniformtradition; it is actually more accurate to say “monotheisms”, and the same applies to Buddhism. The personalism of Christianity, for example, is something not shared by Judaism or Islam. Similarly, the view of the ontologicalstatus of suffering is quite different in different Buddhist traditions. Though this complicates the task, I do not consider it an insurmountable obstacle as long as one maintains a broad focus.